"Players get fired up and really motivated when they play for their country" - Luke Humphries advocates Ryder Cup style tournament

Luke Humphries sees a team tournament along the lines of the Ryder Cup as the ideal extension of the PDC calendar. The world number two, who together with Michael Smith won the World Cup of Darts for England last year, had to leave the tournament early this year. Together with Luke Littler, he went down 8-4 against Germany in the second round. Just that brief appearance reinforced his belief that darts has more to gain from international team competitions.

According to Humphries, a large-scale country team tournament like the Ryder Cup could breathe new life into the sport. "If you were to host a Ryder Cup-style team tournament, that absolutely appeals to me," he says. "Anything you do for your country brings out a different version of people. Players get fired up and really motivated when they play for their country."

The Englishman points to the success and popularity of the World Cup of Darts as an indication of the potential of such an event. "It's like the pairs at the World Cup. That's one of the best tournaments of the year, I think. Everyone loves it." A prerequisite, he says, is that the format be distributed fairly. "A Ryder Cup would be great, as long as it's done fairly. You can't simply pit England and the United Kingdom against Europe, because then almost all the top players would be on the British side."

In addition to the team concept, Humphries sees room for variation in the competition format to further enhance the dynamics on stage. "I would also like to see a different format, such as 701 or 1001, 'first to three.' The only problem with that is that it plays into the hands of players who put up a lot of scores." Still, he does not rule out alternatives. "You can also do something like 301, best of 19. There are other options. I would like to see a fun format one day. Maybe even a cricket match."